While on the ground, an aircraft is connected to a pre-conditioned air unit. The pre-conditioned air unit provides the aircraft's cabin with ventilation while the aircraft is parked and being serviced at the gate. The pre-conditioned air unit may be either heat or air conditioning, depending on the climate conditions. Each aircraft has an air access port in order to receive preconditioned air on the ground. A pre-conditioned air adapter is a part that is attached to the air access port of the aircraft and acts as a transition piece to the ground unit at the gate. The ground crew secures the air adapter to the air access port, and the air adapter is connected to a link of vinyl or canvas ducting that leads to the ground unit.
In the past, pre-conditioned air adapters were made of heavy aluminum or steel. These adapters were large, heavy, difficult to handle, and easily damaged. The aluminum or steel preconditioned air adapters were vulnerable to dents, nicks, and rust, and if dropped will lose its shape and ducting will no longer fit over the end.
An improved pre-conditioned air adapter is made of plastic and is lightweight and easy to handle. This new plastic pre-conditioned air adapter is described in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,917, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The air adapter described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,917 is considerably lighter in weight, less bulky and more durable than previous metal air adapters.
However, the plastic air adapter of U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,917 is made of two pieces of molded plastic, welded together with plastic welding, so that the welding seams run longitudinally top to bottom on opposite sides of the adapter. These adapters are not as strong as the metal adapters, and the body may split at the welding seam after heavy use.
Therefore, a pre-conditioned air adapter that is lightweight, easy to handle, durable, and with improved strength is desired.